Elizabeth Payson (1818-1878) was born in Portland, Maine. She had a feeble constitution and often battled sickness. Her writing talent became evident at an early age and she wrote for "The Youth's Companion" magazine. She had a natural gift for teaching and taught in a school in Richmond, Virginia. She had a religious life, but it wasn't until 1840 that the love of Christ became alive in her soul. She married Rev. George Lewis Prentiss in 1845, who was a pastor and became a professor of pastoral theology at Union Theological Seminary in New York. She published "Stepping Heavenward" in 1869 which became very popular.